Convicted and Escaped

I am a student of history.  It was my favorite subject in school and it is what I got my college degree in - B. S. of History, English minor in 1989 at the University of Idaho.  Having said that, you could assume that I had some knowledge of the Salem Witch trials.  It was a surprise to me to find out that I had a distant relationship to one of the accused.

Lydia Perkins would be my 9th great grandmother.  She was born 3 June 1632 in Boston, MA and died 12 Jan 1707 in Ipswich, MA.  She was married to Henry Bennett (b. 1629 in London, England d. 3 Oct 1707 in Ipswich, MA).  Lydia was the daughter of John Perkins and Judith Gater and had a sister named Mary Perkins.  Mary was b. bef 3 Sep 1615 in Hillmorton, Warwickshire, England and d. 20 Dec 1700 in Ipswich, MA.  She married Thomas Bradbury in 1636.  During one of my genealogical wanderings, I came across a notation about Mary, my 10th great aunt, that she had been tried and convicted during the Salem Witch trials.  According to an article by Melisssa Berry in GenealogyMagazine.com - at http://www.genealogymagazine.com/witchcraft.html - Mary was the victim of numerous familial squabbles from the Carr family.   Melissa explains that it mainly started when Mary spurned an offer of marriage from George Carr and married Thomas Bradbury. Evidently Mary was so powerful that she caused the death of John Carr by "dethroning his reason" and leaving him "weakened by disease, with disordered fancies."  Read the entire article if you get a chance.  I had to use that phrase...it was too good not to quote. Mary had to be quite aged at the time of the accusations.  The trials occurred during 1692 and Mary was born in 1615 making her 77 years of age. Mary was actually sentenced to death to be hung.  Somehow she escaped that fate and died in 1700.

I have always found the Salem Witch trials an excellent example of what mass hysteria can and does do.  It seems like we never seem to learn "our" lesson, because it has happened time and time again. I can't imagine the helplessness that Mary's family had to feel from her husband and children to her siblings, because it seems that it is a very difficult thing to combat.  You can look at Mary's grave online which is located at Salisbury Colonial Burying Ground in Salisbury, MA - Go to FAG #38426363 . Her gravestone is essentially broken pieces in the photo, not an uncommon occurrence in a gravestone that is 300 years old.

I am related to Mary Bradbury through my 3rd great grandmother, Belinda Willey.  Here is my line starting with my grandparents.

Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Marian age
Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
Belinda Willey m. Francis Pope
Eber Willey m. Elizabeth McFarland
Abel Willey m. Mercy Fowler
Abel Willey m. Patience Beckwith
Rose Bennett m. Isaac Willey
Henry Bennett m. Sarah Champion
Henry Bennett m. Lydia Perkins
John Perkins m. Judith Gater (Parents of Mary Perkins Bradbury)

My Grandpa Frank used to think there wasn't a whole lot impressive about his family background!  I think he might have changed his mind with all the info that we have found through the years about his family!

Belinda Willey Pope

Belinda Willey is my 3^rd great grandmother (Find A Grave site with Gravestone).  She was born 10 Mar 1817 in Orleans Co., VT to Eber Willey and Elizabeth McFarland.  

She married Francis Pope in 1835.  

Francis was born 18 May 1812 in Shipton, Quebec and died 7 Feb 1888 in Danville, Quebec.  He was the son of Winslow Pope and Mary Wheelock. 

They are the parents of: 

• Leander Pope b. 1835 d 1914 m. Ann Maria Braidy
•  Polly Pope b. 1836 d. 1910 m. Jasper Edward Emerson 
• Sherman Thomas Pope b. 1839 d. 1919 m. Hannah Nottingham 
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1839 d. 1842 
• George Luna Pope b. 1841 d.1908 m. Elsie Avery Blake 
• Hiram Pope b. 1843 d. 1894 
• Nancy Maria Pope b. 1845 d. 1914 m Thomas Hewes Hunkins 
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1847 d. 1928  m. Martha Rutherford m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons m. Susan Emma Cutter 
• Charles Henry Pope b. 1849 d. 1932 m Ellen Eliza Williamson 
•  Adelaide Lutheria Pope b. 1851 d. 1865 
• Plumer Francis Pope b. 1854 d 1928 m. Florinda Lane 
•  Viola Belinda Pope b. 1857 d. 1888 m. Freeman Austin Lyons

When I first started learning about Belinda Willey and Francis Pope, I found it interesting to find that they seemed to move back and forth between Canada and the Vermont/New Hampshire.  At first glance, it would be easy to assume that her family were on the side of the British during the Revolutionary war – but that can’t really be the case.  Belinda’s grandfather was a Revolutionary War soldier…so why did they move back and forth between Canada and the United States.  

I asked a cousin about this migration between the US and Canada.  It was a very simple explanation…economics.  These families were going where there jobs were.  They were loggers following the jobs.  That makes sense to me.  

Winslow Pope - taken about October 1928 shortly before his death

Her son, Winslow Lonsdale Pope, was a wanderer who lived in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and eventually back to Massachusetts.  Perhaps it was a family trait.

I am still learning about her family and thus far it stretches back several more generations.  I feel as if I have much more to learn.  I am still wondering what I will find! 

Seth Pope & Deborah Perry.

This is one of my early New England families.  Both Seth Pope and Deborah Perry are first generation descendants of immigrants  Seth Pope was born 13 Jan 1649 in Plymouth, Massachusetts to Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.   If you want to read more about Seth Pope specifically check out In their footsteps - Seth Pope.  

Seth Pope was the oldest son Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.  His father arrived from England as part of the "Mary and John" immigration and arrived sometime between 1630-1632.  Sarah Jenney was born to her parents in Jul 1623 on the ocean voyage to America.  Seth was the oldest 11 children. Remarkably, 10 of those 11 children lived to adulthood...which seems to be remarkable for the time period.

 According to the Pope genealogy, Seth Pope first appears as a peddler in Sandwich, MA.  He ended up buying a boat and settled in Acushnet, MA.  He was active in the coast wide trade and operated a wharf and warehouse.  By the time of his death on 17 Mar 1727, he owned farms, dwelling houses, a saw and grist mill as well as his store and warehouse.

Deborah Perry was the daughter of Ezra Perry Sr and Elizabeth Burgess.  Both were immigrants from England - Ezra Perry having arrived with his parents in 1637 to Massachusetts from Devonshire, England.  Elizabeth Burgess was born in Truro, Cornwall, England and also probably arrived in 1637 with her parents as well.  They were married on 15 Feb 1651 in Sandwich, MA.  Deborah was the second of 6 children, and the oldest daughter.

I don't imagine that Seth Pope and Deborah Perry's life was easy - but it must have been much easier than their immigrant parents.  I always think about the journey across the ocean being a particularly harrowing journey and when these new arrivals got to America - it must have been a very strange place to try to forge out a new life.

My line from Seth Pope & Deborah Perry is:

Elnathan Pope m. Margaret Pope (Daughter of Isaac Pope and Alice Freeman - Granddaughter of Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney - They were 1st cousins)
Seth Pope m. Sarah Winslow
Winslow Pope m. Mary Wheelock
Francis Pope m. Belinda Willey
Winslow Lonsdale Pope m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons
Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson
Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Marian Gage (my grandparents)

If you click on the links above, you will be connected to their Find a Grave profile.  This is one of best things that the internet has brought to modern genealogy.  The photos of some of these very old gravestones are being photographically preserved and made available to those of us who don't live close enough to visit these graves.  They stretch from old cemeteries in Massachusetts and Quebec, Canada to tiny cemeteries in North Dakota and Idaho.

Lyons & Reed

When you research a family member from the 1800’s, you are never quite sure what you will find – especially if it is a female ancestor.  My great grandmother was Shirlie Louisa Pope and when we initially went back to North Dakota, the goal was to find at least whatever remained of the cemetery that she had been buried in.  (She was buried in the Old Dunn Center cemetery in North Dakota and sometime in the 1930’s, the family was told that they needed to move her grave as they had found out that the cemetery was on top of a burning coal mine.  There was no money to make the move, so she remained in an unmarked grave at the old cemetery.)  I had known about Shirlie since I was a child…nothing terribly concrete but the photo from my childhood gave me a mental image of her.  When I first started researching her background and had made some contact with cousins, it was with a great deal of enthusiasm that I began to research her family.

Shirlie was the daughter of Winslow Lonsdale Pope and Nancy Ann Marie Lyons.  I must admit that the Pope side was fairly easy to research.  Within a few weeks after I started researching the family, I made contact with cousins and had the Pope family traced back to literally the earliest settlers in New England. Winslow’s wife, however, took a lot more research.

Nancy Ann Marie Lyons

Nancy Ann Marie Lyons was my great great grandmother.  She was the daughter of John Nathan Lyons, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Reed.  I know than Nancy was born on 6 Mar 1855 in Bath, Grafton Co., NH and died on 30 May 1906 in Washburn, McLean Co., ND.  (My cousins took me right where she was buried in a little country cemetery called Sverdrup near Washburn, ND)  

She was married to Winlsow Lonsdale Pope on 19 Mar 1881. I have to assume that she was fairly sickly the last few years of her life, as she died of tuberculosis.  I am also sure she must have been considered a spinster when she married because she was 26 years of age.  Through the census records, I could tell that she spent all of her young life growing up in Bath, Grafton Co., NH.   I was fortunate to find information on her parents, but beyond a few census records, I hit a brick wall during my first few years researching them. 

John Nathan Lyons Jr was b. 23 Apr 1820 in Randolph, Norfolk Co., MA and d. 7 Apr 1911 in Bath, Grafton Co., NH.  It wasn't until I got his birth certificate that I was able to find that his parents were John Lyons and Mary French.    Here is more about his family  (Chink in a Brick Wall – John Lyons and My Irish Ancestor – John Lyons )  I know that he married Mary Elizabeth Reed on 21 Dec 1845 in Fairlee, Orange Co., VT.  From census records, he is listed as a wheelwright and I also know that he remarried after Mary Elizabeth Reed’s death to Elizabeth Snow on 23 Mar 1893 in Manchester, NH.   He died at the age of 90 and was buried in the Warren Village Cemetery in Grafton, NH.

Mary Elizabeth Reed was more of a challenge.   I had her name from family records that had been passed on to me, but there was not going to be an easy to way to figure out who her parents were.  For one thing, Reed is a very common name.  For several years, I explored news-lists, emailed other researchers and came to the conclusion that she was most likely the daughter of Samuel Reed and Nancy Chase Swett.  It wasn't until last year when www.ancestry.com published some new records – specifically The New Hampshire Death and Disinterment Records, 1854-1947 that I was able to finally prove my theory.   

There was the record for Mary Reed Lyons death which listed her date of death, age, cause of death and her parents as Samuel Reed and Nancy Sweet (which is a common misspelling for Swett).  I also learned that she died of “Brights Disease” which is kidney disease.    I admit that it was very satisfying to learn that my theory had paid off.  However, once you confirm one theory…now you have the challenge of pursuing her parent’s ancestry…but that is another story.

Here is a list of the children of John Nathan Lyons, Jr and Mary Elizabeth Reed:

• John Weston Lyons b. 5 Jul 1846 NH d. 22 Oct 1922 m. Jennie M. Stain
• George Leonard Lyons b. 20 Nov 1849 NH d. 10 Apr 1916 NH m. Inez Clifton Eastman
• Charles Edward Lyons b. 14 Jun 1851 NH d. 14 Jul 1901 NH m. Lizzie Smith
• Mary Louise Lyons b. 21 Feb 1853 NH d. 12 Sep 1855 NH
• Nancy Ann Marie Lyons b. 6 Mar 1855 NH d. 30 May 1906 ND m. Winslow Lonsdale Pope
• Arabella Eliza Lyons b. 15 Dec 1856 NH d. 9 Jun 1943 NH m. John Harrison Roby
• Freeman Austin Lyons b. 11 Sep 1860 NH d. 8 Mar 1947 VT m1- Viola Belinda Pope m2- Jane Anderson Richardson m3- Nellie F. Evans
• Lizzie Maria Lyons b. 19 Dec 1865 NH d. 19 Nov 1942 NH m. Charles Nelson Davison

My Irish Ancestor - John Lyons

According to my DNA results, I am 12% Irish…which essentially means to me that the my Irish heritage is several generations back in my lineage.  The only line that I am absolutely sure of that is of Irish heritage is my Lyons family.

John Nathan Lyons would have been my 4^th great grandfather and he was born in 1790 in Ireland.  He probably immigrated around 1810 and according to a later record, his parents were Timothy Lyons and Honora.  I got his name when I ordered my 3^rd great grandfather’s death record several years ago.  It listed on the record that his parents names were John N. Lyons and Mary W. French.  I found out later that they married on 4 Sep 1817 in Randolph, Norfolk Co., MA.  At that point, I was only sure of one of their children, my 3^rd great grandfather, John Nathan Lyons, Jr.  Howver, something remarkable has happened in the past few years.  More and more records have been published and are searchable and I was able to find under www.familysearch.org the New Hampshire birth records that listed  Mary French and John Lyons as parents as well as census records that gave me additional information.  So this is my working list of their children

• Sarah Ann Lyons b. 8 Aug 1818 d. 3 Nov 1910 m. George C. Leonard
• John Nathan Lyons, Jr b. 23 Apr 1820 d. 7 Apr 1911 m. Mary Elizabeth Reed m. Elizabeth Snow
• Bridget Lyons b. abt 1820
• Charles E. Lyons b. Mar 1831 d. aft 1800 m. Wate Holmes
• James D. Farnsworth Lyons b. 1834 d. 15 Mar 1887 m. Harriet M. Getchell
• Myra L. Lyons b. 17 Jun 1836 d. 8 Aug 1895 m. Edward Everett Lothrop
• Mary E. Lyons b. abt 1841

As you can see this is still a working list and one that I hope to make much more progress on.  I believe that John Lyons died 11 Dec 1880  which would have made around 90 years old.  There is a New Hampshire Death and Burial record that lists that date and his parents as Timothy Lyons and Honora.  I think that Mary French died sometime before 1860, because she disappears from the census records.

So while I know that I have several other Irish ancestors, this might be the only one that I have record that lists his place of birth as Ireland. 

Here is my lineage to him:

John Nathan Lyons m. Mary French

John Nathan Lyons m. Mary Elizabeth Reed

Nancy Ann Marie Lyons m. Winslow Lonsdale Pope

Shirlie Louisa Pope m. Ulpian Grey Johnson

Frank Stewart Johnson m. Helen Marian Gage

Eugene Johnson m. Betty Tannahill

Me!

 Happy St. Patrick's day 4th Great Grandpa!

Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney

I have always found the idea of journeying across the ocean in a ship with multitudes of people, a minimum of space and the little knowledge of what you might face a daunting prospect.  Perhaps that is why I have a fascination with my ancestors who made that trip in the early 1600's.

Thomas Pope was born in England around 1608 around Kent, England to John Pope and Mary Haisnoth.  He traveled to the New World during the great migration arriving sometime around 1630.  I have read that he and his father, John, might have been passengers on the Mary and John, but I have never seen proof of that.  He married on 28 Jan 1637 to Ann Fallowell and I know that they had at least once child together, Hannah Pope b. 17 Aug 1739 in Plymouth, MA d. 12 Mar 1710 in Plymouth, MA m. to Joseph Bartlett.  However, Ann must have died sometime before 29 May 1646, because Thomas Pope married Sarah Jenney at that time.   Thomas Pope was a cooper by profession which is something that probably doesn't make a lot of sense to us today.  However, during the early colonial days, a man who could make a barrel to store food or other produces was a valuable commodity.  Most entries about Thomas Pope concern the buying and selling of land.  During his lifetime, he served during the Pequot War, surveyed highways and served as a constable in Plymouth.  He died sometime before between 9 Jul 1683 when his will was dated and 4 Aug 1683 when an inventory of his estate was taken.

Sarah Jenney was the daughter of John Jenney and Sarah Carey.  She truly was from true Puritan stock.  Her parents married in Leyden, Holland on 1 Nov 1614.  They made the decision to travel to the New World and sailed on the Little James in 1623.  Sarah was born in July 1623 on the ship during its passage across the ocean.  It seems to be bad enough to make that trip on your own or with children - but to be pregnant and near giving birth, that was certainly a courageous undertaking. (Her mother, Sarah Carey, lived to be about 66 years old)  On 29 May 1646, the 22 year old, Sarah married the 38 year old widower, Thomas Pope.   Between the years 1647 and 1665, Sarah and Thomas Pope had eleven children.  I would imagine that Sarah Jenney's family was probably well thought of in Plymouth.  Her father was one of the early Puritan separatists who moved to Leyden Holland and when he came to the Plymouth colony, he was granted the permission to build a grist mill that would produce enough meal and flour for the community.  The Pilgrims had been taught by the Indians to plant, harvest corn but their methods to mill the corn wasn't productive enough, so John Jenney build a grist mill in 1636 that remained in services until it was destroyed by a fire in 1847.  A replica was built and serves as a museum that demonstrates the milling of corn from the time of the Puritans.

Sarah Jenney outlived her husband by a few decades and died on 12 March 1709 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA.  Sarah Jenney and Thomas Pope are my 8th great grandparents through my great grandmother, Shirley Louisa Pope.  Most of the eleven children of Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney lived to adulthood and here is a list of their known children:

• Seth Pope b. 13 Jan 1647 d. 17 Mar 1726 m. Deborah Perry (7th Great Grandparents) - Their son married his 1st cousin, Margaret Pope.
• Susannah Pope b. 1649 d. Jul 1675 m. Jacob Mitchell
• Thomas Pope b. 25 Mar 1651 d. bef 1700
• Sarah Pope b. 14 Feb 1652 d. 1727 m. Samuel Hinckley
• John Pope b. 15 Mar 1653 d. Jul 1675 (He and his sister, Susannah and husband were killed by Phillip's warriors while they were fleeing the Dartmouth garrison)
• Mary Pope b. 1654 d. 1730 m. Stephen Peckham
• Patience Pope b. 1655 d. 1675
• Deborah Pope b. 1658 d. 1658
• Joanna Pope b. 1660 d. 1695 m. John Hathaway
• Isaac Pope b. 1663 d. 1733 m. Alice Freeman (7th Great Grandparents) - Their daughter, Margaret, married her first cousin, Elnathan. 
• Jacob Pope b. 1665 d. 17 Dec 1751

The Winslow Connection

I still remember the first time I saw my great great grandfather’s name – Winslow Lonsdale Pope – and thought…if anything is a New England name…then that is.  Very quickly I found out I was correct.  Winslow was born in Weston, Drummond, Quebec but his family came out of Vermont and New Hampshire.  He wasn't even the first Winslow Lonsdale Pope in his family…he had an older brother with the same name who was born in 1839 but died in 1842.  My Winslow was born five years after his brother’s death on 1 Nov 1847.   I am always curious where names come from - and I knew the name of Winslow was pretty prevalent in New England.  After a bit of help from others and research on my own, I found out where that name came from.

Picture of Great Great Grandpa Winslow
 taken a week before he died in 1928.

Winslow Lonsdale Pope was the son of Francis Pope and Belinda Willey and Francis Pope was the son of Winslow Pope and Mary Wheelock.  This Winslow Pope was born 10 Aug 1770 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA to Seth Pope and Sarah Winslow.  So, as it was common to name a son from the mother’s surname, the Winslow name had a source and a New England source.  Now it was time to find out a bit more about Sarah Winslow.

 

Sarah Winslow was born on 19 Mar 1733 in Rochester, Plymouth Co., MA and married Seth Pope on 15 Mar 1752 when she was 18 years old.  She was the mother of seven children before she died on 20 Aug 1775.  She was the daughter of Edward Winslow and Hannah Winslow – 2^nd cousins who married on 14 Dec 1728 in Harwich Barnstable Co., MA.  Both are the great grandchildren of Kenelm Winslow and Mercy Worden.  I must admit that I am always a little dismayed to find ancestors who married cousins, but I've found a few who are much more closely related.  It seems that it illustrates the cruel fate that befell a lot of women – Sarah was only 42 when she died and her mother was only 34 years of age.  At least her grandmother, Bethia Hall (wife of Kenelm Winslow) lived to be 73 years old which was a grand age in 1745.  Unfortunately, Bethia’s daughter preceded her in death by just a few weeks.  When I look at the young ages of these women, it is hard to tell if their deaths were caused by childbirth, over work , or sickness – perhaps it was a combination of all three.

So, now it is obvious that my great great grandfather’s name comes from a well established and known family of New England.  While he was not descended from the Edward Winslow who was on the Mayflower, he was descended from his brother, Kenelm who  arrived a few ships later.  So, here is my Winslow line:

• Kenelm Winslow b. 1599 d. 1672 m. Eleanor Newton b. 1598 d. 1681
• Kenelm Winslow b. 1635 d. 1715 m. Mercy Worden b. 1640 d. 1688
• Kenelm Winslow b. 1668 d. 1729 m. Berthia Hall b. 1672 d. 1745 (Father of Hannah)
  & Edward Winslow b. 1681 d. 1760 m. Sarah Clark b. 1682 d. 1767 (Father of Edward)
• Edward Winslow b. 1703 d. 1780 m. Hannah Winslow b. 1711 d. 1745
• Sarah Winslow b. 1733 d. 1775 m. Seth Pope b. 1729 d. 1821
• Winslow Pope b. 1770 d. 1847 m. Mary Wheelock b. 1778 d. 1854
• Francis Pope b. 1812 d. 1888 m. Belinda Willey b. 1817 d. 1880
• Winslow Lonsdale Pope b. 1847 d. 1928 m. Nancy Ann Marie Lyons b. 1855 d. 1906
• Shirlie Louisa Pope b. 1881 d. 1927 m. Ulpian Grey Johnson b. 1881 d. 1927
• Frank Stewart Johnson b. 1914 d. 1975 m. Helen Marian Gage b. 1920 d. 2011 (My grandparents)

Aunt Vernie

Verna, Hazel Belle, and Shirlie Pope

One of the few members of my grandfather’s maternal family that my grandmother ever met was his aunt who she always referred to as “Aunt Vernie.”  Most of the interaction between Aunt Vernie and my grandmother was conducted in letters.  However, Grandma Marian did get a chance to meet Aunt Vernie.  You might way that Verna was the first family member that I learned about in the Pope family.

Verna Myra Pope was born on 1 Mar 1889 as the fourth daughter of Winslow Lonsdale Pope and Nancy Ann Marie Lyons.  Winslow had been married before and had lost his wife.  He had two other living children (Francis Hooker Pope b. 22 Jan 1873 and Viola Belinda b. 15 Sep 1875.)  Winslow and Nancy started out their married life in New Hampshire and Vermont and were living there when their two oldest daughters were born (Shirlie Louisa – my great grandmother b. 14 Jul 1881 and Anna May b. 5 Nov 1883), but by the time that Mattie Winnova b. 1 Jan 1886 and Verna Myra were born (1 Mar 1889) they were in Lake Park, Dickinson Co., Iowa.  They stayed there a few years and daughter Hazel Bell was born 17 Dec 1891.  By the time that their son John Francis was born on 26 Nov 1895 they lived in Sioux Valley, Jackson Co. MN.  Their youngest son, Plumer Elwood Pope was born on 26 Nov 1895 in Lake Park, Dickson Co., IA.  It wasn’t too long after 1901, when Mattie died of diphtheria, that the Pope family moved near Washburn, McLean Co., ND.   

Verna probably never really got to know her sister, Viola, she died in 1892 and her next oldest sister, Mattie died in 1901.  I imagine the family always lived with sickness of some time.  I’ve no idea how long that their mother, Nancy Ann Marie Lyons, lived with tuberculosis…however, from what I have read, it could have short period of time or years.  Nancy died on 30 May 1906, not too long after Shirlie married George White.  Winslow was left at home with his three daughters and two sons ranging in age from 23 to 9 years old.  At a young age, Verna knew how to work…I’m sure she helped care for her younger siblings and certainly her ailing mother.  After her death, she was 17 years old and I’ve been told that she went out to find work to help support the family. 

Verna - Washer Girl abt 1905

She married John Axel “Swede” Johnson on 2 Apr 1908 and within a short time, started her own family.  I don’t imagine that their life was easy.  I’ve heard too many tales of ropes between a house and barn during the winter time so one wouldn’t lose their way during blizzard conditions…or summers where hail and tornados could ruin the family crops before they ever could be harvested.  Verna, was by all accounts, a good farm wife and mother.  However, it appears to me that she grew with tragedy in her family…and it wasn’t done with her yet.  On 8 Jul 1921, Verna’s closest sister in age, Hazel Bell, died at the young age of 29.  Hazel’s husband had died several months earlier and now their four children were orphans.  Then in early April of 1927, Verna learned that her sister, Shirlie, was very ill.  Braving what must have been very cold and icy conditions, she rode her horse across the iced over Missouri River to Dunn Center, ND to try and take care of her sister.  Shirlie died on 14 Apr 1927…within a few days of her sister’s arrival.  Verna always blamed Shirlie’s husband (Ulpian Grey “George” Johnson) for not getting the doctor for his wife earlier.  I’m not sure that would have helped in 1927.  Shirlie died of pneumonia and there was very little most doctors could do to help someone very sick.  Once again, her sister left behind children to mourn her – three sons and three daughters, the youngest being only four years of age.

Verna with youngest son, Harley.

Verna had a surprise pregnancy at 41 years of age and delivered her second son, Harley Winslow Johnson.   (See above picture) Perhaps this was the hardest trial that Verna faced.  When her son turned about twelve years old, it was discovered that he had leukemia.  There was very little that could be done, but she cared for him and her sick husband.  She lost her husband on 15 Jan 1843 when he sixty two years old and her darling little boy just a few months later on 29 Mar 1943.  Verna didn’t survive this loss for very long and died on 18 Sep 1946 at the age of fifty seven years old. 

Many years ago, I met Verna’s granddaughter.  She told me of the trip that Verna had made to try and care for her sister and her bitterness that they weren’t able to save her.  Perhaps that bitterness is why our families have had little contact through the years.  By the time, 1940 had rolled around…all but one of Verna’s siblings had died…of ten children only Verna and her youngest brother, Plumer were still alive.  Diphtheria, Pneumonia, Tuberculosis other illness had taken the family she grew up with away.  In her lifetime, she had lost her parents, her siblings, her husband and perhaps the most devastating loss of all…her child.  Fifty seven seems to be a young age to have died…but with all that loss, perhaps not!

Shirlie's Tmeline

Growing up, the only thing that I knew about my Dad’s grandparents was a photograph that sat in my Mom’s den on the shelf.  It was a very simple dual metal frame that had a picture of a man and woman.  The man had a prodigious mustache and nice head of hair and the woman had a rather sad look on her face.  Later I learned that their names that their names were Ulpian Grey Johnson and Shirlie Louisa Pope.  When my parents took my grandmother back east – We found a whole lot more about at least Shirlie Pope’s family.

Ulpian - Date Unknown

Shirlie - Taken abt 1904

As Mom and Dad traveled back east, one of their goals was to stop off in Minnesota and see my Grandpa Frank’s sister, Nan.  She was living in a nursing home and suffering from dementia.  However, when my grandmother walked into the room, she both remembered my grandmother and seemed to enjoy visiting.  I remember meeting Aunt Nan briefly when I was a little girl.  I think Grandpa Frank brought her to Lewiston to see our family when she had come back west for their sister’s funeral (Mary).  My Mom was in the hospital at the time and I was probably about eight years old.  Sadly, my grandfather died several months later.  That visit was probably the last time that my grandmother and Nan had seen each other…so my grandmother was quite anxious to see Nan and visit with her family.  The oldest of Nan’s children had were of a similar age to my father and his older two sisters, so I think the families were fairly close when they still lived back in North Dakota.  One of the things that my parents and grandmother’s visit produced was a collection of letters that had been written between Nan and her grandfather, Winslow Lonsdale Pope.  These proved to be a real revelation.

Mom and I had no idea who Shirlie Pope’s parents were.  Back then, the census records weren’t that readily available, especially the 1900 census.  Shirlie was born on 14 Jul 1881 in Vermont, so she wasn’t in the 1880 census and we had no idea who her parents were or where she was born.  These letters between Nan and her grandfather was a treasure trove of information.  Mom and Dad got copies of these letters and between the three of them, they read them through.  Then they called me on their cell phone and told me a few items that they were able to figure out from the letters.  They now knew that Shirlie’s father was Winslow Lonsdale Pope and that he was married to a woman named Sue and that he had two step daughters.  They also figured out that he lived in Massachusetts.   With this information, they asked me to see what I could find…and so I began my search.

The internet was still pretty basic back in those days but I was still able to post queries on several sites.  Within a few days, I got a reply that told me that Winslow Lonsdale Pope was the son of Francis Pope and Belinda Willey and gave me information that gave me several other generations back.  I called Mom and Dad back and they were just about to Niagra Falls, NY…and had already passed through Vermont and New Hampshire.  They had actually stopped at a historical site that was in tribute to a Charles Pope.  Unfortunately for them – he had no connection.  His family had just arrived a generation before.  Mom and Dad were in the exact area that Shirlie had been born and raised and as they put it, if they had yelled out the door while going through town they might have come across a cousin.

Nancy Lyons Pope - Taken abt 1898

It was exciting to break down that brick wall and learn more details about Shirlie Pope and her family.  It turns out that Winslow Lonsdale Pope first married Martha Rutherford and they had four children and only two of them survived infancy.  Martha became sick one day with severe pains in her stomach and neck and slipped into a coma and died four hours later on 27 Jul 1877.  Winslow didn't remarry until 19 Mar 1881 to Nancy Ann Marie Lyons.  Within a few years, Winslow and his wife travel to Iowa with their small family.  They left Winslow’s son behind because by that time he was a young man and wished to stay behind.  He would have been about 14 or 15 when they left.  They traveled first Lake Park, Dickinson Co., IA where Winslow’s daughter Viola died in 1892 of consumption.  By 1900, they are living at Sioux Valley Twp, Jackson Co., MN.  Shirlie is not recorded with her parents in this census (and I've never been able to locate her).  I have thought she must have been working outside the home at this point was recorded in another household as a servant.  In 1902, Winslow and Nancy lose another daughter, this time to diphtheria (Mattie Winnova Pope) in Sioux Valley, Jackson Twp., MN. By 1903, the family is living in McLean Co., ND because Shirlie marries Charles A. White and Winslow has land.  It must have been a very difficult few years that followed Shirlie’s marriage.  She and Charles White had two sons: George b. 9 Jul 1904 and Elmer b. 6 Aug 1906.  While pregnant with Elmer, Shirlie lost her mother Nancy Ann Marie Lyons Pope to consumption on 30 May 1906.  In late April of 1907, Shirlie’s husband was involved in trying to fight a prairie fire when he came home and collapsed and died less than a week later.   Shirlie remarried two years later to my great grandfather and they had five more children, one who died at birth.  Shirlie died just a few years later of pneumonia on 14 Apr 1927.

 

I have only located Shirlie in one national census – that of 1910 when she was recorded with Ulpian, her two sons and young daughter.  I've never been able to find her in the 1900 census and I've never located the family in 1920 census.  Dad thinks that they were down on the Missouri breaks and thinks that they family was probably never counted.  I've seen her on a state census for North Dakota in 1925.

Shirlie's family - Taken abt 1927 -
L - R- Ulpian,  Nan, Frank
Audrey and Mary up front

I've always thought that Shirlie’s face looked sad in that old photograph.  When you look at the timeline of her life, she faced a lot of tragedy.  She saw one sister fade away with consumption and another died of diphtheria and then lost her mother to consumption not too long after that.  Only a year later, she lost her husband to the effects of smoke.  After her remarriage, I don’t think that life was easy as it was a time of little work and prosperity – but she had to find a way to make it work because she had her two sons and three more children to take care of.  In 1919, she had another child who she lost either at birth or shortly afterwards.  She and Ulpian had one more daughter when she was 41 years old.  Just four years later, she died herself of pneumonia.  There was little information to find about her and by the time Mom and I really started looking – not too many people we could ask.  It took a long time to discover the timeline of Shirlie Pope’s life…and a packet of letters sure helped us unravel her family’s ancestry.

My DNA Journey - The Results

Several weeks ago, I wrote about taking the Ancestry.com Autosomal DNA test and I promised that I would let you know what the results were.  In my previous blog (http://genheirlooms.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-dna-journey.html) I talked about what I expected to find out from my test…here is what I found out.

My supposition was that I would be 100% European – with the possibility that I might have some Native American ancestry or an Asian lineage.  Despite every family story – the test shows that I have no Native American ancestry.  Like most people, the story of that Indian in the background is just that…a story.  In fact, there weren’t a lot of surprises in my results…except one.

Most of my ancestry is Scandinavian or from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.  I would imagine that most people tested whose families come from England and Ireland will most likely have the same result.  The Vikings left a lot of descendants all over Europe both as merchants and raiders.  I suspect that most of this ancestry for me comes through England and Ireland.  From what I have been able to surmise – most of my English ancestors came to England  through the Norman Invasion in 1066.  Since there isn’t a lot of record keeping…going much beyond that is difficult.  The Scandinavian portion is 55%.  Most of my paternal side of the family probably comes from England and probably makes us the majority of this Scandinavian branch.  There is also ancestry on my maternal lines that are Irish and Scottish and could also be part of this Scandinavian portion.

I have 16% Central European ancestry which includes Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.  I am actually surprised that this isn’t a bigger chunk of my family background.  My paternal great grandmother’s ancestry primarily came out of this region – mostly likely Germany and Austria.  My paternal grandfather also had ancestry from Germany.  Most of my German ancestors left Europe in the early to mid-1700’s and ended up in New York and West Virginia. 

The Southern European label is the one that confuses me the most.  According to my test, I have 13% Southern European ancestry which includes Italy, Spain & Portugal.  As far as I know, I have no ancestry from that area.  It is a large enough chunk that it leads me to believe that it might come from my Friddle ancestry.  I make this guess…because of all my family lines, this is the one I know the least about.  My great great grandfather first shows up in 1858 in a record.  By that point, he has been married and already had several children and the 1858 record is his second marriage.  I’ve never been able to locate an 1850 census record for him nor any mention of parents.  My great uncle told me that his father had told him that Moses Friddles was supposedly a foundling child.  He was taken in by a family and raised by them and his ancestry is unknown.  I have no proof of the accuracy of this story.  Most of my family lines trace back to before the 1700’s with only a few exceptions and most of those lines come through either England or Germany.  So…this is definitely a puzzle.

My test also says that I have 12% British Isles ancestry.  Since, there is such a predominance of Scandinavian ancestry in my family that I think comes through England…this ancestry is also puzzling.  I suspect that is an area that had little contact with the pillaging Vikings which leads me to guess that it might be Wales.  According to some of the information that I have read, my mother’s paternal grandfather’s mother was supposedly from a Welsh background.  With a surname like Jones – I’m not sure how you can make that assumption because that name is so common.    However, it is a decent theory to look into.

The test leaves me with a lot of questions and possible contacts.  Several matches have come up that are likely 4^th to 6^th cousins.  With as many family lines that I have – I suspect that it won’t be easy to really establish a true match.  However the question that I have always had about the Native American ancestry is answered and like most others…is proved false.    (See Blog – Do I have Native American ancestry? - http://genheirlooms.blogspot.com/2011/11/do-i-have-native-american-ancestry.html for more info!)

So here are some of my main family lines and my best guess as to where they came from:

Paternal Lines:

• Johnson – England
• Gage – England
• Gallup – England
• Montanye – France
• Shawver – Germany
• Pitsenbarger – Switzerland
• Lyons – Ireland
• Pope – England

Maternal Lines:

• Tannahill – Scotland
• Brown – England or Ireland
• Bailey – Ireland
• Jones – Wales
• Dollar – Scotland
• Friddle - ???
• Pennington – England
• Allen – England
• Kelley – Ireland
• Fillinger - Ireland

Dunn Center, ND

In a few days, Dad and I are heading east.  One of our stops will be Dunn Center, North Dakota.  Dad was actually born in Dickinson, ND just south of Dunn Center.  My grandfather wanted my grandmother’s first child to be born in a hospital.  So, when the time came my father was born at St. Joseph’s hospital on Johnson Ave.  Dad likes to say that Dickinson was so proud of him that they named the street after him. 

House in North Dakota

The first time we visited North Dakota was back in about 1999.  Mom, Dad and I were joined by my aunt and uncle and my neice and my aunt’s granddaughter.  We made the trip in August, which wasn’t the best time as we saw more than a few motorcyles motoring their way to Sturgis.  It was a wonderful trip where we were able to meet some wonderful cousins in Washburn, ND and for the first time get a real idea of that part of the family (Pope).  We attempted to locate the burial location of my grandfather’s mother in the Old Dunn Center Cemetery.  When my great grandmother died in 1927, she was buried in the old cemetery…within a few years they started moving people from that cemetery because they found that it was laying on top of a burning coal mine.  There was no money to move my great grandmother, so she remained in an unmarked grave in that old cemetery.  It may have been marked at one time, but by the time we were at the cemetery, there was nothing left.  We were able to make a pretty good guess as to where she was buried as well as her daughter who died during childbirth.  We were also able to find the house that my grandparents lived in while living in Dunn Center.  It wasn’t an easy time.  It was never a prosperous town –but I suspect that the depression hit the area pretty hard and it never recovered.  My grandfather worked at times up to four jobs to try and support his family.  By the time they left in 1943, they had three small children in that house, my grandfather’s father and sister as well as my grandparents.  Dad told me that the last time the grainery had been roofed had probably been done by his father back in the early 1940’s.  Life was not easy – my dad might have been born in the hospital – but his two sisters were delivered by the local midwife.  My grandmother told me one time that they had to live on my great grandfather’s social security check which was about $17.  She found that she could buy syrup cheaper than sugar, so she would buy that instead.  Somehow, she made that money last enough to feed her small family.  When I visited Dunn Center, ND again in 2004 – if anything it looked as if it was in worse shape than before. 

Grainery at Dunn Center

Dunn Center - Looking back from the old cemetery

The last several years have been a period of a great deal of change for the Dunn Center area.  In case you haven’t heard, there is an oil boom in North Dakota and a lot of it is centered around the Williston, ND area and Dunn Center is close by.  I am curious as to what changes have been wrought in tiny Dunn Center.  Is that house that my father’s family still there?  Has the population grown?  Does it look more prosperous?  I guess I’ll find out soon!

Grandpa Frank

When I was a little girl, I was lucky to have two complete sets of grandparents, a set of great grandparents and two other great grandmothers.  I remember special moments with each one but when we lost my Dad’s father when I was eight years old – I didn’t truly understand the loss until later in life.

My Dad’s father didn’t have an easy life.  He grew up near Dunn Center, ND.  It may have a booming economy now, but back in the 20’s and 30’s, life was not so good.  Grandpa Frank’s mother died when he was 13 years older and life got much harder.  Grandpa quit school and worked to support his father and sisters.  When he was about 20, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and traveled and worked with the CCC’s.  He came to Idaho with a friend which is how he met my grandmother, Marian Gage.

Marian & Frank shortly before their marriage in 1939.

After their marriage, my grandfather took my grandmother back to North Dakota and by the time four years had passed, they had three children.  My grandfather worked desperately to support his family  - at times working four different jobs.  Good paying jobs were not to be found in that part of the country, especially during the early 1940’s and Grandpa Frank couldn’t even serve as a soldier because of his feet.  My grandmother wanted to come back to Idaho and so she arrived on a train in early January 1943 with her three children, and my grandfather came out a few months later after he had taken care of his father and sister.  Life was a bit easier in Idaho, although they could never be called wealthy or even well-to-do.  I’ve heard it said that Grandpa Frank wasn’t a good provider because his family didn’t have a lot of the things that many people think they need.  My father said that while he was growing up – they had what they needed and never went hungry or without clothes and shoes.  But money should never be the guage of how a father provides for his family.  Grandpa Frank was a father who showed affection, love, and respect towards his wife and was a loving and gentle man to his children. 

Grandpa Frank with his first granddaughter, my sister - Gwenda!

My father has told me many times that his Dad was old before his time.  When he was 40 years old – he looked and acted like he was about 60.  I don’t know when Grandpa was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth but I know that he had the disease in his later life.  Basically it is a disease that affects the nerves in the body.  My Dad said that his father could place his hand on a hot stove and not even feel it.   From what I have read, the muscles in the body grow weaker and there is mild to severe pain and the the disease is incurable.  As  a child, I didn’t know any of this.  I just knew that my Grandpa was kind and gentle.  I have two specific memories of him.  Since we lived so far away from him – we didn’t see them more than once a year.  We were visiting and my grandmother sent my Grandpa to the store for some groceries.  My Dad and I joined him on the little trip to the store.  Once there, Grandpa gave the grocery list to my father and took my hand and led me to the barrels of penny candy.  We carefully picked out a bag of candy with my favorites in there.  Then we picked another bag for my other siblings.  I remember his patience, gentle smile and attention.  During that same trip, Grandpa taught all of us how to peel an orange.  He sat down on the couch, cleared off the coffe table and then rolled the orange around to loosen the peel and then peeled the orange off in one string.  To this day, the smell of oranges remind me of my grandpa! 

Grandpa Frank in about 1972.  This is the way I remember him!

I’ll never forget the day in September in 1975 when my mother answered that phone call.  I was home from school because I was sick.  She called my father at work and he came home almost immediately.  I remember the devastation and sorrow on his face as he and my mother packed quickly to get on the road towards Canby, OR.  Someone was supposed to take us kids down a day or two later – but those plans fell through and we weren’t able to go. At eight years old, there aren’t a lot of clear memories.  I’ve talked to a lot of people who have told me many stories about my Grandpa Frank.  I’ve also heard that my father is a lot like his father.  I know my father to be a kind, giving man and a patient father who has managed to make every one his children feel special and important to him.  I know a man who was a wonderful husband to a wife who deeply loved him and a devoted son to his parents and brother to his siblings.  From what I have heard, my grandfather was all those things.  I only wish I could have known him better.

Frank Johnson b. 14 Oct 1914 Dunn Center, ND d. 17 Sept 1975 Canby, OR

Son of Ulpian Johnson and Shirlie Louisa Pope

A Resource You Should Be Using…

Several years ago, I received a link to a new website that looked promising.  In the intervening years, it’s promise has been more than realized.  www.findagrave.com is one of the best free resources out there on the internet.  It brings together people who want to help others and those who are asking for genealogical help.  You might say it is a perfect marriage!

I am not as active on www.findagrave.com as I would like, but I have been a member for a few years now.  I’ve taken some photos for people locally and on one occasion I took a lovely walk through Spaulding cemetery and took photos of the stones.  It seems that so many of our families have spread throughout the United States and sometimes it is impossible to be able to visit all of the places that we would like in our genealogical pursuits.  I have had many people who have supplied me with information via Findagrave…but I’ve also been able to do the same for others. 

One of the gravestones that I had had been trying for years to get a photo of was that of my 2^nd great grandfather, Winslow Lonsdale Pope.  I knew where he was buried, but I had never been able to get to the area nor would I in the near future.  I first tried to get the photo many years ago when a genealogy friend promised me that she would go get the photo for me.  She lived close to the cemetery and enjoyed helping others, so she generously offered to take the photo when she got the opportunity to do so.  Unfortuanately, my friend got sick and died very quickly.  This was someone (Mary Floy Katzmen) was probably one of the most generous and helpful researchers that I have ever worked with and her website “The Original Johnson County Tennessee Genealogy Page” at http://jctcuzins.org/ was and continues to be a wonderful resource for anyone researching Johnson County, TN roots.  Anyway, one day I decided to post the request to have a photo taken of Winslow Lonsdale Pope’s grave.  Someone initially tried to find the grave and was unsuccessful and then later, a gentleman found the grave and took the photo and then took photos of all of the Popes that surrounded the grave and most of them were related to me as well.  He told me that he liked to take walks through the cemetery and enjoyed taking the pictures.  What a wonderful generous man!

Sometimes Findagrave can be a great resource for finding dates for individuals or searching through possible genealogical connections.  There are times when the information is incorrect – usually you can contact the contributor and these errors are corrected.  One of the great options is having the ability to connect relatives together.  As a researcher, when you find someone connected to their parents and sometimes this will take you to the grandparents – what a wonderful path to pursue.  So, I suggest you take some time and take a look at www.findagrave.com and perhaps even become a member.   There are requests sent all the time from people all over the United States who would just love to see a photo of a family member.  It is a  great feeling to get that heartfelt “thank you” from another researcher.  

The Mysterious Mr. White

My great grandmother, Shirlie, was a widow when she married Ulpian Johnson on 27 Apr 1909 in Washburn, McLean Co., ND.  For many years we had a photo of her and first husband and the only name that we knew him by was Mr. White.   Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot more about him now!

Shirlie moved to North Dakota probably sometime after 1900.  While she isn’t recorded in the 1900 census with her father, I suspect that she is working out of the house and I’ve never been able to locate her.  She married Charles A. White on 11 Nov 1903 in Washburn, McLean Co., ND.  She must have become pregnant right away, because her son George was born on 9 Jul 1904 in Washburn.  Shirlie’s second son was born 6 Aug 1906.  Eight months later, Shirlie was left a widow.  Her husband, Charles, had been out fighting a prairie fire and died a several days later of smoke inhalation.  A kind researcher back in North Dakota found his obituary for me.

Charles A White Dead.  

Charles A While was born at Muskegon Michigan on Feb. 10, 1870. Died April 29th, 1907. He leaves a wife and two children living near Washburn, and an aged father and mother, two sisters, and one brother at Muskegon, to mourn the loss of a loving husband and father, a dutiful son, and an affectionate brother.  The cause of his death was from the effect of inhaling smoke and fires from a prairie fire he was helping to fight on the 23rd of April, 1907, and had not been well since.  His wife had been and got medicine for him and as it had no effect on him he thought he would go and see the doctor, he had gone about five miles and fell out of the buggy just in front of Mr. Wiese house, Mr. Wiese seen him fall and went to him, he never spoke, was unconscious and never rallied, and lived about town minutes after they got him in the house. His remains were taken to his wife’s fathers Mr W.L.Pope and funeral services were held there at ten O'clock May 1. His remains were laid to rest in the Svedrup cemetery followed by a large concourse for friends. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev Ehlers of the M.E.Church of Washburn.

I found it interesting that he was buried at Sverdrup Cemetery and that there is no stone that has been found for him.  Shirlie’s mother, Nancy Ann Marie Lyons Pope had been buried there in 1906.  It leads me to believe that Charles was running the farm on the land that her father had which is close by in the region.  About two years later, Shirlie married an old bachelor who was already 40 years old to her 28 years.  Once again, Shirlie became pregnant and had a daughter on January 27, 1910.  Another daughter (Nancy Mae Johnson) followed on 9 Mar 1912 and then my grandfather, Frank Stewart Johnson on 10 Oct 1914, a daughter who was stillborn in 1919 and finally Audrey Ruth b. 22 Jan 1923. 

George White

Shirlie’s oldest two sons have always been kind of a mystery to me.  My father remembers both of them well as George, the oldest, came out to live near Potlatch.  Elmer ended up working for the railroad and marrying a Jewish widow.  Neither one had children.  My grandmother had very little to say that was positive about George.  Evidently he was someone who disliked women in general, and probably her in particular.  I’m not even real sure that he was impressed with his nieces…but he loved his brother and my father.  He had very little patience or understanding for women in general.  George also had a problem with drinking.  One night he stopped alongside the road to relieve himself and was struck by a car and killed immediately in 1962.  Elmer lived for long while after that – passing away in 1984.  We were shocked to find out that after his wife, Lucy, had died, he had remarried. 

Elmer & Lucy White

I’ve heard from the Johnson side of the family that Shirlie wasn’t terribly bright – I have my doubts about that because of the way she took care of her family and held them together and how everything fell apart after her death.  There is no doubt that her older two sons were not very intelligent…in fact they could be considered to be somewhat “slow”.  It is interesting though to note that while my grandmother didn’t want much to do with George – she was quite fond of Elmer.  My father remembers that it was a big occasion for the family to take off in the car and go to Spokane to meet Elmer for a visit.  As he worked for the railroad, he could travel very cheaply. 

I’ve never really ever made progress on getting further information on Charles A. White.   The White surname is probably as hard to research as the Johnson surname.  For most of my life, Charles was simply known as Mr. White and I must say it was gratifying to finally learn his name.  

The Pope Quarter

My grandmother never really got much of chance to meet her husband’s mother’s family when she lived in North Dakota, but she did receive a few letters.  One was written in 1945 from Verna Pope Johnson, my great grandmother’s younger sister.  There are all kinds of interesting details in this letter if you look closely enough.  One of which was when she talked about her daughter who had married and already had several children.  The married name of this daughter was unusual enough to merit some additional research.  I got online and found all the Zinggs I could in the area around Washburn, ND and wrote them letters asking them if they were connected.  I left my phone number and address…and one day, I got a letter back!

Sharyll Zingg Tweeten was a granddaughter of Verna Pope Johnson and she had been elected by her siblings to make the contact with us.  Soon, we were making plans to travel to North Dakota and meet this new branch of the family.  My aunt and her husband as well as their granddaughter and my parents, my niece and I began the long trip to North Dakota.  Along the way, we stopped at a few spots like Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Buffalo Cody Museum, and Devil’s Tower.  We had two teenagers with us and felt that they should see these places.  Soon enough, we had arrived at Washburn, ND and began making our way to the Tweeten home place.  After meeting Sharyll and her husband Clint, we felt as if we were meeting old friends.

The old pictures were brought out and we were seeing photographs for the first time of family members that we had only heard about as well as stories of a family we knew very little about.  It was interesting to me personally that Sharyll’s mother’s name had been Capitola…and it was my grandmother’s name as well. I brought out some documents that I had gotten online from the Bureau of Land Management site (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/) that listed either Shirlie Pope or her father Winslow Pope.  On one of these records, Clinton (Sharryll’s husband) paused and read it more carefully.  He got out a platte book that had been published based on some early land owners of these lands.  As he compared the land entry and the book, he got a big grin on his face.  It seems that his uncle had bought a piece of land back in the 1920’s and had farmed the land.  He had always called it the “Pope Quarter” and now Clint understood why.  That document with the description fo the land that Winslow Pope had  - was what Clint’s family had always called the Pope quarter.  Clint had never imagined that this piece of land was his wife’s great grandfather’s original homestead. 

The BLM record for Winslow Pope

The next day, Clint took Dad and me over and showed us the Pope quarter…there was nothing all that impressive about the piece of land…but it was interesting to think that this was the piece of land that my 3^rd great grandfather had homesteaded nearly a century ago!

Presidential Trivia

One of my curious activities a few years ago was writing an article for the Pennington Pedigrees on Presidential genealogy.  I have to say that it was a fun article for me to write.  If you are interested in Presidential genealogy, the first and best resource that you should look at is the work of Gary Boyd Roberts.    I believe that he is the expert on all things genealogy related to our Presidents.

Here are some interesting facts to consider…there are two presidents who share more lines in common than any other with 18 lines.  It is no surprise that it is George Herbert Walker Bush and his son George W. Bush.  They probably share genealogy with a lot of people.  I share several ancestors with the two of them including: John Gallup & Hannah Lake, John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley, Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney.  When you throw Barbara Pierce Bush into the mix, I also share the ancestors of Fernando Thayer and Huldah Hayward. 

Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Gerald R. Ford share 17 ancestral lines in common.   I share a common line of Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost with Calvin Coolidge.  It is no surprise that many share lines with Franklin Delano Roosevelt – I have the following: John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley.  I also share a line with Gerald R. Ford (aka Leslie Lynch King) of William Wilbore and Martha Holmes.

I could go on with several Presidents and common ancestral lines…but you will find if you have New England ancestry then you probably can connect to a President of the United States. Also of interest is that the fact that there are several who share no common lines with any other President.  These Presidents include:

• Thomas Jefferson
• James Monroe
• Andrew Jackson
• James K. Polk 
• James Buchanan
• Andrew Johnson
• Chester Arthur
• William McKinley
• Woodrow Wilson
• Dwight David Eisenhower
• John Fitzgerald Kennedy
• Ronald Reagan
• William Jefferson Clinton

You might find it interesting that our current President shares ancestral lines with seven other Presidents including:  James Madison, Harry Truman, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and both George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Our Presidents have come from a lot of backgrounds and families both wealthy and poor.  They have been lawyers, Police Commissioners, Generals, tailors, and farmers.  You may like some better than others – but they are an interesting lot to look at.  You might find it curious that President Obama is not the first President to have his nation of birth questioned.  Chester Arthur was thought by some to have been born in Canada and not the United States.  Chester Arthur’s father owned a farm 15 miles across the border and some speculated that he was not a natural born citizen.  Chester Arthur went so far as to change his birth year to 1830, since his father was well established in Vermont at that time.  

It is also interesting to note that when Grover Cleveland first became President, he was bachelor.  He married a younger woman named Frances Folsom who was 21 years old and the youngest first lady we have ever had.  They had five children and four lived to be quite old, the last one died in 1995.   We know of the two sets of fathers and sons (Adams & Bushs) but there was also a grandfather and grandson – Benjamin Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison.  

There was also one President who was administered the oath of office by his own father in a Vermont farmhouse.  Calvin Coolidge’s father was the local notary public and the oath was done early in the morning after hearing of Warren G. Harding’s death.  Everyone knows that John Fitzgerald Kennedy is buried at Arlington Cemetery, but did you know that William Howard Taft was as well.  Taft was also the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his term as President and he himself administered the oath of office to two Presidents.

So as many of us enjoy a day off on President’s day – you might look up one or two on your computer and learn something about them.  You might be surprised at what you find!